Dunridge

This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings Dunrige, Dunridge, Dundridge, Dundredge, etc., is a locational name from Dundridge, a hamlet near Bishop's Waltham, in Hampshire, deriving from the old English pre 7th Century "dun" meaning "down hill, mountain" plus "hrycg" "ridge". The surname dates back to the late 16th Century, (see below). Church recordings include one Esabell Dunridge who married Harie Pasmuch on December 2nd 1575 at St. Gabriel, Fenchurch, London. John Dundridge married Mary Edwards on January 24th 1675 at St. Katherine by the Tower, London and James, son of James and Rose Dunridge was christened on April 11th 1699 at St. Thomas's, Portsmouth, Hampshire. Elizabeth Dundridge married George Fowler on October 12th 1749 at St. James, Paddington, London. During the Middle Ages when it was increasingly common for people to migrate from their birth place to seek word further afield the custom developed that they would adopt the placename as a means of identification. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Dundridge marriage to William Shakleton, which was dated 1572, in "St. Gabriel's, Fenchurch, London", during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.